The Corean Chronicles
Unanswered Questions
Why does Tor always put "The New Novel in The Saga of Recluce" on the front of each new Recluce book that comes out in hardcover? I understand the idea of getting this across to the readers, but it must look rather silly to someone who has many Recluce books in hardcover to line them up with ten or so volumes, each proclaiming that it is the "new" one.
Why is good practical judgment called "common sense" when it's anything but common, especially among politicians?
Why is it that the
In the
Why is it that liberals -- usually Democrats -- are so ready to spend tax dollars to make sure that those who are less advantaged can attain the "American dream" and so ready to condemn and tax those who have actually achieved it?
Why is it that so many conservatives -- usually Republicans -- are so fond of the Bill of Rights when it comes to the first amendment [freedom of religion] and the second amendment [owning guns] and want to ignore it so much when it comes to matters such as the fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments [freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, warrants, trial by jury, due process], especially when they apply to the poor and less advantaged, who are the ones who need those rights most?
Why is it that some political candidates declare that the answer to the pay-gender gap is that women should get more education when women have been getting more collegiate degrees than men for at least a decade? Or is what they mean that women have to have more education to get the same -- or less -- pay than men?
When government gives money to individuals who can't make ends meet, it's called welfare, but when it gives money to corporations, it's called an incentive or a credit [or an absolutely necessary financial system reform]. Why the difference?
Why is it that when a man with small children runs for public office, he's hailed as a good family man while a female candidate for the same office is asked how she can handle the job and her family? Is this because we expect the job to be so taxing that the office-holder must neglect family and because no man is expected to take on family responsibilities? Isn't that just chauvinism one step removed?
And why is it that, when one asks questions like these, they're either ignored or addressed with platitudes or simplistic answers... or result in attacks?
Christianity: because they don't feel an atheist shares their values. Whether that's good or bad is up for interpretation.
Liberals: Harrison Bergeron. "THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General."
Conservatives: I wish I knew.
Pay Gender gap: Again, I wish I knew. The only story I have that might have some bearing is my first employer, a college textbook publisher. Almost all of the assistants were female 20-something English majors. What's the pay gap between male/female engineers?
Welfare/Incentives - I've wondered why, too - the answer seems to be that in many cases a corporation will happily move elsewhere to get the incentive, which means the city loses tax revenue from the company's purchases, the company's employees, etc, etc. I'd be curious to see studies on what the ROI for the City (and the ROI for the company) are. The same arguments are used for cities helping pay for sports stadiums - again, how often do the cities make up the money? Obviously they think they do - but do they?
Questions - let's see if this post can be an exception.
"It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."
By this definition, American Dream is not about money but about opportunities and forging a good place in a society, which may have been few and far between in Europe at that time.
If by taxation Democrats increase opportunities without ripping the spoils (=comfortable and good life) from others, there is no contradiction.
Contradiction appears when you define Dream as "having more money than you can ever spend". Maybe a good question would be, how did the first definition ever change into the second one?
We all know that, as Voltaire said, common sense is uncommon. Whoever coined the phrase (Plato is the earliest source I found.) did not exhibit good (and uncommon) sense.
I believe that the religiosity of our nation has hampered women's political power. Christianity and Judaism are paternalistic religions. This also addresses your next-to-last question about voter discrimination against women with small children.
Almost all religious persons dislike atheists because we do something they won't do: use reason and logic regarding the existence of God, gods, heaven, nirvana, reincarnation, etc. Our existence causes cognitive dissonance that they lessen by calling us amoral and treating us like crap.
The liberals you refer to are what I call "levelers." They don't want to help the disadvantaged; they want everyone to be 'equal' in as many ways as possible. My belief is that these liberals have inferiority complexes and hate feeling less smart or less successful than others. If everyone is leveled, then the liberals' inferiority complexes are resolved.
Many Conservatives are Christians. Like most Christians, they are hypocrites. Unlike what their Christian religion preaches, Conservatives feel that the poor and downtrodden should be ignored or swept under a giant carpet.
The pay-gender gap is an overblown issue. Almost all of the pay-gender gap can be explained by the following: female professionals tend to work fewer hours than male professionals, women often interrupt their careers to raise their children (and it's hard to make up for those lost years), and women are willing to take lower paying jobs that offer more flexibility. For example, my sister has an MA in accounting but makes far less than most accountants. She would not accept any job that required travel. Most accounting jobs require travel to audit other companies or branches, so she took a government job that was below her skill level.
Actually, the government tries to put absurd spin on welfare. It doesn't like to use the word welfare (the department was renamed Health & Human Services), and it stopped doing things like paying rent directly to landlords (because that was demeaning to the welfare recipients). Instead, the government paid the welfare recipients who often decided to not pay rent. So, our government is not being hypocritical: a person on welfare is receiving 'beneficiary services' and a corporation on welfare is receiving an 'economic stimulus grant' or a 'tax credit.'
"And why is it that, when one asks questions like these, they're either ignored or addressed with platitudes or simplistic answers... or result in attacks?"
It depends on who you ask. I observe that most people do not want to discuss such questions. Doing so makes them face unpleasant truths about their government, their religion, their workplace, or their ethics and behavior. Why worry? Be happy! And, if that doesn't work, attack the person who asked the pesky questions.
: 9:28 PMWhen are we going to catch up with Europe and the rest of the world in terms of childcare and maternity/paternity leave? When the burden of childcare falls on women, of course it’s going to keep them from taking jobs that match their education and interest. Strangely enough, women usually put their kids first - another gender issue that’s exploited. And no, I’m not some wild-eyed feminist out to bash the opposite sex. I live in the Equality State, where women make .64 cents for every $1.00 earned by a male, which I didn’t believe, until I discovered as a female supervisor, I would be making less than a male supervisor, even though our position descriptions were exactly the same. Even though I have more education. But we aren’t supposed to compare pay and benefits, or even talk about it. A fire-able offense if discovered.
I wonder why…
Us on top you serving us. Don't do anything to rock the boat.
Spin, spin and more spin.
Maybe that's a tad hard on Tor.
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